Epic Systems: Three Monumental Paintings by Jennifer Bartlett

Sun, 09/07/2014 to Sun, 02/22/2015

The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Gallery

Epic Systems: Three Monumental Paintings by Jennifer Bartlett will bring together Bartlett’s most ambitious works in an installation that spans the entirety of her significant career. The exhibition marks the CMA debut of Song (2007), a monumental abstract work given to the museum in 2008, positioning it between Bartlett’s career-defining work Rhapsody (1975–76) and the later Recitative (2010). These three works are in direct dialogue with one another through their musical titles, ambitious scale, and conceptual approach, yet have never been shown together. With its condensed, but career-spanning juxtaposition of Bartlett’s three most monumental paintings to date, the dynamic presentation of Epic Systems will allow for both a lively and meditative experience.

Over the course of her four-decade-long practice, Bartlett has significantly contributed to the history of modern painting. Amid the currents of conceptualism and process-based work dominating the art discourse from the 1970s onward, Bartlett has remained faithful to her interest in painting, while pushing its boundaries through fragmentation, the modernist grid, and the juxtaposition of various genres and styles. Her relentless commitment to the medium is evident in the three works that will be on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Please note that the exhibition will be closed to the public from November 5 through November 21 to facilitate rotation of the works Recitative and Song.Recitative will be on view from September 7 through November 4, while Song will be on view from November 22 to February 22. Rhapsody will be on view during the entire exhibition run.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is supported in part by Cuyahoga County residents through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically.